BlackBerry boasts about patching security holes on the Priv, calls out other OEMs

BlackBerry has always been known for their security expertise, and when the Priv was announced that expertise was listed as a great selling point. Now that the Priv has had some time in the wild and new security issues have cropped up, BlackBerry wants the world to know how well they’ve handled getting those issues patched and how poorly everyone else is doing.

There’s good news and bad news here, depending on what side of the fence you’re on. If you’ve got a Priv, you’re in good shape, and if you don’t… not so much.

Google releases monthly security bulletins regarding security issues that need to be patched. BlackBerry has tracked how long it takes for OEMs to patch these issues from when Google makes them publicly available and when they hit user devices. Since December, BlackBerry has been on point and had everything patched on the day of the issues becoming publicly available.

The other 9 OEMs that were tracked didn’t fare nearly as well. BlackBerry did everyone a favor and used the best case scenario for these manufactures, so they use the first possible device updated. That means BlackBerry isn’t shaming Samsung for updating a three year old budget device slower than a newer, flagship device. Whether that’s acceptable or not is another discussion, but it at least puts other OEMs in the best possible light.

There were nine anonymous OEMs tracked, and only one or two patched issues even remotely reasonably. There were only a handful of instances where things were patched within a week, while most issues lingered for several weeks or never got patched at all. Not a single OEM had a security patch ready the same day of public availability like BlackBerry, either.

It’s hard to blame BlackBerry for bragging a little bit here, since they’re absolutely blowing everyone else out of the water. They at least had the courtesy of not calling other companies out by name, but it’s pretty clear if you’re concerned about security patches on Android, you’re either going to have to pick between the Priv or Google’s Nexus line.

Born in southern Alabama, Jared spends his working time selling phones and his spare time writing about them. The Android enthusiasm started with the original Motorola Droid, but the tech enthusiasm currently covers just about everything. He likes PC gaming, Lenovo's Moto Z line, and a good productivity app.

NardVa

Blackberry should have shown the names of the OEM. We know Blackberry is doing their job, but who specifically isn’t doing their job.